Initial jobless claims fell 21,000 to 530,000 for the week ending Sept. 19 as the four-week moving average fell to the lowest level since January, the Labor Department reported yesterday.
Claims for the week ended Sept. 12 had originally been reported as 545,000. Continuing claims fell by 123,000 to 6.138 million for that week.
Economists had expected 550,000 initial claims and 6.2 million continuing claims, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters.
The four-week moving average of initial claims, a less volatile indicator, dropped to 553,500 claims, the lowest level since Jan. 24. The four-week average for continuing claims fell to 6.187 million from 6.189 million.
